Dispensing container



Sept. 8, 1959 w. E, 'l-lLLMoRE DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed March 2, 1956INVENTOR HEIHLLHoXE ATTORN 3 Z .MHMV .l? W a x a a). .1 5 z I; 2/ o l 4mm 7% m y F 3 1 United States Patent DISPENSING CONTAINER William E.Fillmore, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to pwens- Illinois Glass Company, acorporation of Ohio Application March 2, 1956, Serial No. 569,119 2Claims. (Cl. 221264) The present invention is a dispensing container, animportant object of which is to provide simple and effective means forhousing a supply of pills or the like items and reliable means by whichsuch items may be dispensed one at a time.

A further object is the provision of a container of this type composedof three elements or parts which may be manufactured at a comparativelylow cost and qu te rapidly assembled without requiring any unusualskill.

A further object of my invention is a provision of a novel dispensingfeature in which a simple selector element is operable to receive pillsor such items one at a time from the main supply source and, as aconsequence of a slight shifting in the position of the selector,discharge the pill through an outlet opening.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed outhereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view with parts in section showing a containerincorporating my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the selector.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1showing the separable connection between the two housing elements.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the container.

In the preferred form of my invention, as illustrated, the container isformed of molded plastic material which may be transparent polystyreneor the like material. This container is composed of two parts, a baseportion and a cover 11, said base portion including an upstandinggenerally annular Wall 12, which for the greater part of its extent isspaced inwardly a short distance from the margin of the base portion 10so as to form a shelf or stop engageable with the lower end of a wall 13or flange which depends from the margin of the cover portion 11. As isobvious, the base end cover portions may be of any preferredconfiguration, that is, in the form of fiat or perhaps concave-convexdisks. If preferred, in lieu of frictional engagement between the walls12 and 13, interlocking ribs 14 may be formed on adjacent surfaces asillustrated in Fig. 3.

Dispensing of pills, or such items, as may be housed in the container,is provided for by the following means. A radial discharge aperture 15is provided in the wall 12 (Fig. l), and through this aperture suchitems fall by gravity one at a time after having been brought to aposition at the inner end of said aperture by a reciprocable selector16. This selector 16 is confined in an arcuate track 17, such trackbeing defined by the inner surface 18 of the wall 12 and a wall section19 and the outer surface of an arcuate baffle 20. This bafiie 20 is setradially inward a substantial distance from the margin of the base andat one end is connected to the wall 12 by means of a radial wall 21. Theother end of this baflie 20 freely terminates at a point a shortdistance circumferentially beyond the discharge aperture 15. Preferably,the flange 12 of the base portion includes radial extensions 22 whichmay snugly engage the end walls 23 of a cutout portion of the wall 13 onthe cover portion. The aforementioned wall section 19 (Figs. 1 and 4) isspaced circumferentially from that wall 23 in proximity to the radialwall 21 which connects the bafile to the wall 12, so as to provide ashort circumferential slot 24 accommodating a portion of the selector16. The end walls of this slot 24 provide stops to limit thereciprocating motion of the selector for a purpose which will beapparent presently.

The selector 16 may well be formed of polyethylene and, as shown,includes a transverse opening 25 intermediate the ends thereof and aradial finger piece 26 at one end which projects into the aforementionedslot 24. The transverse opening 25 is so positioned in relation to thefinger piece 26 and the discharge opening 15, as well as the free end ofthe baflie 20, that in one extreme position (Fig. l), a single pill orsuch item may readily find its way into the opening 25 and incident toshifting the selector to its other extreme position said transverseopening or chamber 25 is brought into register with the dischargeaperture 15.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A dispensing container comprising a housing providing a reservoir forpills or such articles, said housing including opposed disk-like bottomand cover portions spaced apart in axial alignment, inwardly directedinterlocking annular walls carried by marginal portions of the bottomand cover portions and telescoped one over the other, said walls havinga radial discharge aperture therein and a circumferential slot spaced ashort distance circumferentially from the discharge aperture, an arcuatebafiie spaced radially inward from both the slot and discharge apertureand connected at one end to the wall on the bottom portion and definingone longitudinal wall of an arcuate guideway for a selector, a selectorof arcuate form mounted for reciprocation in and being of substantiallythe radial dimensions of the guideway, said selector being held inoperative position and at least in part guided in its movement by saidbaffie and a finger-piece at one end of the selector projecting radiallyoutward through said slot, said selector formed with a transverse radialopening so spaced from the finger-piece that when the selector is at oneend of its path of reciprocation a single article can enter the openingfrom the reservoir and when said selector is at the other end of itspath of reciprocation the radial opening registers with theaforementioned discharge aperture and has one end closed by said baflie.

2. A dispensing container as defined in claim 1 and radial extensionsprojecting outwardly from the annular wall of the base portion andengaging those end walls of the discharge aperture and slotcircumferentially most remote from each other to thereby secure thebottom and cover portions against relative rotation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,189,954 Huesing Feb. 13, 1940 2,204,821 Priddy June 18, 1940 2,302,641Baron Nov. 17, 1942 2,434,222 Olivier Jan. 6, 1948

